You are onboarding developers wrong (Featuring Ambient Game Engine)(dickymirrors.substack.com) |
You are onboarding developers wrong (Featuring Ambient Game Engine)(dickymirrors.substack.com) |
Like, since I was a literal child in middle school I've always loved tinkering on new projects in an unknown game engine: I remember writing code in the most truly random environments (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fenix_Project) because I was more enamored with tinkering on demos in different game engines than actually writing games because I wanted to learn how to make my own game engine like a "real" game developer.
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But that first screenshot in the article felt off, and then the second felt even worse, and I went to the actual site to make sure it wasn't just the screenshots and if anything the screenshots were nicer (brighter, better organized) than the actual site!
I think it's because I associate a game engine with an upbeat optimism, and selling the idea that you too can make cool shit!... and even the tiny ones have this homely feeling of I made cool shit! and I'm sharing it!
Meanwhile going with brutalism as your core theme feels like it's takes a shit on the idea that anything could actually be cool. It doesn't feel warm or invigorating in any way shape or form.
I didn't even realize I could have such a strong reaction to a game engine landing page, but I guess there's a first time for everything.
(Also I totally acknowledge I might just not be the target market for this, positioning is half the battle of marketing, so maybe the real lesson is knowing your market well)
You should try out the Ambient quickstart. You won't regret it.
If you start with high-content flashy demos that paint a certain picture, people aren't going to activate their own thinking-muscles & dream up their own uses. Having lo-fi roughed out assets is less intimidating and more open ended for the target audience.
Ambient does a much better job imo targeting people who would use it & be excited, by turning off & turning away the those who just want to be razzle dazzled by flashy demoes. That shit is actively harmful to have as your audience.
I do find the grey theme sad and kinda kitch, too. But not the underlying promesses.
Overall it doesn't inspire "I'm about to program that" for me. I think it's not unlike old Teenage Engineering, which felt whimsical and light hearted in a way that attracted you to play even if you'd never touched a synth before... vs new Teenage Engineering, which is $1,600 flat-pak desks that you're not sure you're allowed to sit at even though you've touched a million desks before
Then AGE auto-magically shares it to every client connected to the space. Lives up pretty well to ambient computing's good name!
I'm quite cynical myself, but I believe OP needs to work for better organizations.
It isn’t supported by any browser I use so I could not be onboarded.
The main reason the screenshot in this article looks so amateurish is not grey or red. It's the whole layout around it, and the UI of "35.3°C" temporature meter.